Iron Rails in the Garden State is a sampler of unique and fascinating stories about railroading in New Jersey, culled from archives and independent research. It is a collection of historical vignettes, and because it is not tied to a particular time or railroad line, Anthony J. Bianculli is free to move from one story to another, entertaining the reader with anecdotes of New Jersey railroad pioneers, sacred sites, and expensive mistakes. Included in this book are tales from railroad literature that have not been told at length until now....

The radial prophets of the English civil wars were fascinating figures, combining a devout belief in the power of divine inspiration with a passionate desire for social change and a distinctly eccentric rhetorical style. Tracing the prophets who rant, rage, and wreak havoc through the works of Butler, Dryden, Mandeville, Pope, and other less familiar writers of the period, 'Transforming the Word' pursues the fate of radical prophecy between 1660 and 1742....